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A national strategy on zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) will be in place by 2018, the federal government announced on May 26. The Liberals have created an Advisory Group to contribute to developing options for addressing the key barriers for greater deployment of battery electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and fuel cell cars.

In introducing proposed regulations to reduce methane emissions from the oil and gas industry, the federal government said they will result in cleaner natural gas used to heat homes and more environmentally friendly gasoline.

On May 18, the federal government unveiled a part of a its carbon pricing plan. A levy on fossil fuels, the much talked about tax portion of the strategy, will go into effect as planned on January 1, 2018. The more complicated part, a cap and trade approach for large emitters, won’t come into force before 2019 because the government still has some things to work out.

Author, noted economist and former head of CIBC World Markets Jeff Rubin says the case for divesting from fossil fuel stocks, particularly oil sands companies, makes a whole lot of sense economically. At a Centre for International Governance Innovation event last week, he said putting the oil sands sector in the global context leads to only one conclusion - divest and do it now.

That the world is warming at a rapid pace as a result of human induced climate change is undeniable. Globally, carbon dioxide tops the 400 parts per million (ppm) level and is now rising at a rate 2.5 times faster than it did in the 1990s. This puts “us” in “uncharted territory,” according to Diane Saxe, the Environmental Commission of Ontario.